Study Yoma folio 13B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
למפרע דגיטא דהא לאו גיטא הוא, ועביד ליה עבודה בשני בתים! אלא, דאמר לה: הרי זה גיטיך על מנת שתמות חברתיך. ודילמא מייתא חברתה, והוה ליה גיטא דהא גיטא, וקם ליה בלא בית!
retroactively that the bill of divorce of this second woman is not a valid bill of divorce, since the first wife died. In that case, it turns out retroactively that he performed part of the service with two houses, married to two wives. Rather, it is a case where the High Priest said to the second wife: This is your bill of divorce on condition that your counterpart dies. The Talmud asks: In this case, too, perhaps her counterpart will die and the bill of divorce of this second woman is a valid bill of divorce, and he will remain without a house at all.
אלא, דמגרש להו לתרוייהו. לחדא אמר לה: הרי זה גיטיך על מנת שלא תמות חברתיך, ולחדא אמר לה: הרי זה גיטיך על מנת שלא תכנסי לבית הכנסת. ודילמא לא מייתא חברתה, ולא עיילא היא לבית הכנסת, והוה ליה גיטא דתרוייהו גיטא, וקם ליה בלא בית!
Rather, this is a case where he divorces both of them provisionally, with a different stipulation to each woman. To one, he says: This is your bill of divorce on condition that your counterpart will not die. And to the other one, he says: This is your bill of divorce on condition that you will not enter the synagogue on Yom Kippur, cognizant of the fact that she can easily fulfill that condition and thereby effect her divorce. The Talmud asks: And perhaps her counterpart will not die, fulfilling the condition and effecting the divorce of one wife; and she will not enter the synagogue, fulfilling the condition and effecting the divorce of the other wife. In that case the bill of divorce of both women is a valid bill of divorce and he remains without a wife.
אלא, לחדא אמר לה: הרי זה גיטיך על מנת שלא תמות חברתיך. ולחדא אמר לה: הרי זה גיטיך על מנת שאכנס אני לבית הכנסת. דאי מייתא הא — קיימא הא, ואי מייתא הא — קיימא הא. מאי איכא למימר? דילמא מייתא חברתה בפלגא דעבודה, ועבד ליה עבודה למפרע בשני בתים? אי חזי לה דקא בעיא למימת — קדים איהו ועייל לבית הכנסת, ומשוי לגיטא דהא גיטא למפרע.
Rather, it is a case where to one of the women, the High Priest says: This is your bill of divorce on condition that your counterpart does not die. And to the other one of the women he says: This is your bill of divorce on condition that I will enter the synagogue. If this wife dies, that other one is alive; and if that other one dies, this one is alive. What is there to say in refuting this possibility? Perhaps her counterpart will die in the middle of the service, and it will turn out retroactively that he performed part of the service with two houses, married to two wives. If he sees that she seeks, i.e., she is about to die, he will then preemptively enter the synagogue, rendering the bill of divorce of the dying wife a valid bill of divorce retroactively. He will then be married to only one woman. In that way, a second wife can be designated for the High Priest without him being married to two women on Yom Kippur.